Matthew27

Matthew 27 details Jesus' condemnation by Pilate, influenced by the chief priests and the multitude who chose Barabbas over him. Judas, repenting, returns the thirty pieces of silver and hangs himself, which money is then used to purchase the potter's field. Jesus is scourged, mocked, and then crucified at Golgotha, where he yields up the ghost amidst supernatural signs. His body is subsequently laid in a new tomb by Joseph of Arimathaea, which is then secured by a Roman guard at the request of the Jewish leaders.

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Jesus Delivered to Pilate

When morning came, all the chief priests and elders of the people conspired against Jesus to put Him to death.

They bound Him, led Him away, and handed Him over to Pilate the governor.

The Suicide of Judas

When Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was filled with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders.

“I have sinned by betraying innocent blood,” he said. “What is that to us?” they replied. “You bear the responsibility.”

So Judas threw the silver into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.

The chief priests picked up the pieces of silver and said, “It is unlawful to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money.”

After conferring together, they used the money to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for foreigners.

That is why it has been called the Field of Blood to this day.

Then what was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: “They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price set on Him by the people of Israel,

and they gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord had commanded me.”

Jesus Before Pilate

Meanwhile Jesus stood before the governor, who questioned Him: “Are You the King of the Jews?” “You have said so,” Jesus replied.

And when He was accused by the chief priests and elders, He gave no answer.

Then Pilate asked Him, “Do You not hear how many charges they are bringing against You?”

But Jesus gave no answer, not even to a single charge, much to the governor’s amazement.

Now it was the governor’s custom at the feast to release to the crowd a prisoner of their choosing.

At that time they were holding a notorious prisoner named Barabbas.

So when the crowd had assembled, Pilate asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?”

For he knew it was out of envy that they had handed Jesus over to him.

While Pilate was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent him this message: “Have nothing to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered terribly in a dream today because of Him.”

But the chief priests and elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus put to death.

“Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” asked the governor. “Barabbas,” they replied.

“What then should I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” Pilate asked. They all answered, “Crucify Him!”

“Why?” asked Pilate. “What evil has He done?” But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify Him!”

When Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but that instead a riot was breaking out, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “You bear the responsibility.”

All the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!”

The Mocking and Scourging

So Pilate released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed Him over to be crucified.

Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company around Him.

They stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him.

And they twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on His head. They put a staff in His right hand and knelt down before Him to mock Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!”

Then they spit on Him and took the staff and struck Him on the head repeatedly.

After they had mocked Him, they removed the robe and put His own clothes back on Him. Then they led Him away to crucify Him.

The Crucifixion of Jesus

Along the way they found a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross of Jesus.

And when they came to a place called Golgotha, which means The Place of the Skull,

they offered Him wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, He refused to drink it.

When they had crucified Him, they divided up His garments by casting lots.

And sitting down, they kept watch over Him there.

Above His head they posted the written charge against Him: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS.

Two robbers were crucified with Him, one on His right hand and the other on His left.

And those who passed by heaped abuse on Him, shaking their heads

and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross!”

In the same way, the chief priests, scribes, and elders mocked Him, saying,

“He saved others, but He cannot save Himself. He is the King of Israel! Let Him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in Him.

He trusts in God. Let God deliver Him now if He wants Him. For He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”

In the same way, even the robbers who were crucified with Him berated Him.

From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land.

About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “He is calling Elijah.”

One of them quickly ran and brought a sponge. He filled it with sour wine, put it on a reed, and held it up for Jesus to drink.

But the others said, “Leave Him alone. Let us see if Elijah comes to save Him.”

When Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, He yielded up His spirit.

The Death and Immediate Aftermath

At that moment the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth quaked and the rocks were split.

The tombs broke open, and the bodies of many saints who had fallen asleep were raised.

After Jesus’ resurrection, when they had come out of the tombs, they entered the holy city and appeared to many people.

When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified and said, “Truly this was the Son of God.”

And many women were there, watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to minister to Him.

Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.

The Burial of Jesus

When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph, who himself was a disciple of Jesus.

He went to Pilate to ask for the body of Jesus, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him.

So Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth,

and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut into the rock. Then he rolled a great stone across the entrance to the tomb and went away.

Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.

The Tomb is Secured

The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and Pharisees assembled before Pilate.

“Sir,” they said, “we remember that while He was alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’

So give the order that the tomb be secured until the third day. Otherwise, His disciples may come and steal Him away and tell the people He has risen from the dead. And this last deception would be worse than the first.”

“You have a guard,” Pilate said. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.”

So they went and secured the tomb by sealing the stone and posting the guard.

Study Notes for Matthew 27

Verse 1

The chief priests and elders convened their formal, final decision early Friday morning to condemn Jesus, confirming the illegal night trial (26:57-68). They lacked the authority for capital punishment, requiring Roman intervention.

Verse 2

Pontius Pilate was the Roman prefect (governor) of Judea (c. AD 26–36). The Jewish authorities delivered Jesus to him under the charge of treason against Rome (claiming to be King of the Jews).

Verse 3

Judas’s 'repentance' (Gk. *metamelomai*) signifies remorse or regret over the consequence, not true change of heart (*metanoia*). He recognized Jesus’s innocence, but his guilt led to despair rather than restoration.

Verse 5

Judas’s suicide stands as a stark contrast to Peter’s genuine repentance (26:75). He threw the silver into the temple sanctuary, confirming the priests’ rejection of the money.

Verse 6

The priests’ concern with ritual purity (that the money was 'price of blood' and could not enter the treasury) is deeply ironic, as they were the ones who orchestrated the shedding of innocent blood.

Verse 7

The potter’s field was purchased to bury strangers or foreigners, symbolically emphasizing Judas’s alienation and the rejection of the price of the Messiah.

Verse 9

Matthew cites this fulfillment as spoken by Jeremiah, though the source is primarily Zechariah 11:12-13, with thematic echoes of Jeremiah’s purchase of a field (Jer. 32:6-9). This common rabbinic practice blends related prophetic themes.

Verse 11

Pilate’s question focuses on the political threat. Jesus’s response, 'Thou sayest,' is an affirmation that shifts the meaning of 'King' away from Roman political rebellion.

Verse 14

Jesus’s silence fulfills the prophecy of the Suffering Servant (Isa. 53:7). This dignified refusal to defend himself demonstrated his sovereignty and amazed the Roman governor.

Verse 15

The custom of releasing a prisoner during Passover is attested only in the Gospels, likely a Roman attempt to appease the Jewish crowds during the volatile festival.

Verse 17

Barabbas, whose name means 'son of the father,' was a known rebel or murderer. The choice presented to the crowd was between Jesus, the true Messiah, and a violent political revolutionary.

Verse 19

The warning from Pilate’s wife, coming from a dream, highlights the divine confirmation of Jesus’s innocence and further stresses Pilate’s moral culpability in the judgment.

Verse 24

Pilate washing his hands was a symbolic act, mimicking Jewish tradition (Deut. 21:6), intended to absolve himself publicly. However, since he possessed the authority to stop the execution, the act was meaningless.

Verse 25

This self-curse, 'His blood be on us, and on our children,' represents the crowd’s full rejection of their Messiah. Historically, this verse has been tragically misused to justify persecution against Jews.

Verse 26

Scourging (flogging with whips tipped with bone or metal) was a brutal preliminary punishment, often causing victims to die before reaching the cross.

Verse 28

The soldiers dressed Jesus in a scarlet (or purple) robe, a color associated with royalty, to turn his claim to kingship into a cruel joke.

Verse 29

The crown of thorns and the reed (as a scepter) completed the parody of a Roman emperor’s coronation, intensifying the humiliation.

Verse 32

Simon of Cyrene, a passerby, was forced to carry the cross beam, a common practice when the condemned was too weak. This detail marks the beginning of the physical execution.

Verse 34

The drink of vinegar mixed with gall (a bitter, narcotic substance) was likely offered to dull the pain. Jesus tasted it but refused to drink, choosing to endure the full horror of the cross consciously.

Verse 35

The division of Jesus’s clothes fulfills Psalm 22:18, showing that even the mundane details of the crucifixion were predetermined by divine plan.

Verse 37

The inscription (titulus) stated the official charge: 'THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS,' confirming the treason conviction Pilate reluctantly imposed.

Verse 45

The darkness, lasting from noon until 3 PM (the sixth to ninth hour), was a supernatural event signifying divine judgment and the cosmic seriousness of Christ’s suffering for sin (cf. Amos 8:9).

Verse 46

This cry, quoted from Psalm 22:1, expresses the unique spiritual agony of Jesus as he bore the world's sin and experienced the crushing separation from the Father.

Verse 51

The tearing of the massive temple veil from top to bottom symbolized that Christ’s death had opened a direct, immediate access to God’s presence, ending the necessity of the Old Covenant sacrificial system (Heb. 10:19-20).

Verse 54

The centurion’s confession, 'Truly this was the Son of God,' is the first acknowledgement of Jesus's divinity by a Gentile, contrasting sharply with the rejection by the Jewish authorities.

Verse 57

Joseph of Arimathaea, a wealthy man and secret disciple, risked his standing by claiming Jesus’s body. His action fulfills the prophecy that the Suffering Servant would be 'with the rich in his death' (Isa. 53:9).

Verse 60

Laying Jesus in a new, unused tomb was important evidence for the resurrection, ensuring that no one could claim his body was confused with another’s remains.

Verse 62

The chief priests and Pharisees, observing the Sabbath rest, nevertheless came to Pilate on the next day (Saturday) to ensure the tomb was sealed, revealing their intense fear of the resurrection claim.

Verse 63

Calling Jesus 'that deceiver' demonstrates their deep hostility. They were aware of his resurrection prophecy and feared its fulfillment, even though they actively denied his power.

Verse 66

Sealing the stone with an official Roman seal and setting a military guard ironically establishes the tomb’s security, providing undeniable proof that the resurrection was not a theft.

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Matthew27

Jesus Delivered to Pilate

The Suicide of Judas

Jesus Before Pilate

The Mocking and Scourging

The Crucifixion of Jesus

The Death and Immediate Aftermath

The Burial of Jesus

The Tomb is Secured

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